Highly Unlikely but Likely Nonetheless
by Ekko Rayne
Summary: One unlikely girl and one unlikely boy turn something very unlikely into the likely. Post Voldemort. Return to Hogwarts, prejudices are set aside between Houses and friendships and relationships are formed.Rated T for mention of character deaths and war.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters or story line affiliated with either the books or the movies. All rights are reserved for its creator J.K. Rowling.**_

_Author's Note: After Belief Among Unrest was nice enough to review one of my stories I checked out her profile and found a challenge she had issued for all who wished to partake in it. So here's my story based upon the requirements for her challenge. Belief Among Unrest this one is for you._

oOo

**Highly Unlikely but Likely Nonetheless**

_One unlikely girl…_

_One unlikely boy…_

_Together they turn the unlikely into the likely…_

Hermione stood staring into the Hogwarts Head's compartment of the train with dismay. Thanks to the insane babbling of Luna Lovegood over some mythical creature she called a _muistiolento_, a creature found in Finland known to take the memories of those it came across, she was late getting to the meeting for the Heads and now she was forced to endure the rest of the trip with Malfoy as he had been chosen to fill her in on what she had missed. Shaking her head at the memory of Luna's insistent rambling she focused on the Draco and steeling herself against the unpleasantness that came with being in close contact with the Slytherin she entered the compartment and took a seat across from him.

Draco either didn't notice her appearance or deemed her presence unworthy of his attention since he neither said a word to her nor did he turn away from the window where he was staring at the passing countryside. She sat there impatiently tapping her foot as she waited for him to notice her arrival, but as the minutes ticked by he still said nothing, only continued to stare out the window.

"Malfoy if you could spare the time to tell me what I need to know I would appreciate it."

He didn't turn from the window, but he did cut his eyes over to glance at her with a sneer twisting his pale face. Hermione glared back waiting even more impatiently for him while he remained as quiet as ever. His silence was unnerving and at that point she was willing to take his racial insults rather than sit there in silence. Sighing she turned her glare away from the Slytherin Head Boy and turned it towards the window.

The blue sky of the afternoon had taken on a deep pink and purple hue as dusk descended upon the English countryside. A few stars as had already made their appearance in the darkening sky and Hermione knew that night was fast approaching. As if to answer her assessment the lanterns in the compartment flickered to life and cast the tiny carriage in lightly gilded shadows.

Shaking her head in annoyance she turned her attention back to the silent boy across from her. She studied him in the flickering light as night continued to fall outside the window. The lamplight shown upon his pale blonde hair bringing out darker highlights she never noticed him having before. The light touching his skin lent his skin a healthy glow causing the paleness she knew he possessed to recede. Finally she noticed his eyes, those pale icy grey eyes, eyes the grey color of a stormy sky, that sneered and taunted her. They were focused on her now, taking in their own assessment as he studied her in turn. In the flickering light from the lanterns she saw the shadows that lurked behind the iciness in his gaze. It was as if in the dim light and shadows Draco let down his guard and she was able to see a side of him that she was certain no one else had ever seen.

Hermione knew that the war with Voldemort had changed him, it had changed everyone, so many lives had been destroyed and torn apart that she had wondered if they would ever be able to pick of the remaining pieces and move on. She, for the most part, had remained untouched from the destruction and death left behind after the Dark Lord's defeat, she had not had to endure the things she knew that Draco had had to live through. She had not lost any of her beloved family, friends yes, she had lost several of those, but unlike Draco she had not lost anyone as close to her as his father had been to him.

Everyone knew that Lucius Malfoy had died in the final battle with Voldemort on the blood soaked grounds of Hogwarts. He had turned his back on his Lord and Master in defiance to save Draco from his clutches. She remembered that moment well. Lucius had stood strong, despite the haggard and gaunt appearance of her person, against Voldemort when he had issued orders to Draco to remove himself from the crowd of witches and wizards, both young and old, which stood before him as enemies. Hermione had held her breath waiting to see what Draco would choose to do. Although he was a Slytherin, a famed Muggle-born hater and the bane of her own existence, she knew he was strong, powerful, strong willed and stubborn beyond belief and she had hoped that he would remain where he was and fight along side them against the tyranny of Lord Voldemort.

She remembered how he had turned his eyes towards her and they had stared at the other for a moment, a moment in time that seem to have frozen forever in her memory, and whatever he had seen in her eyes, whether it was the hope that he would remain on their side or whether it was something else, Hermione had seen the resolve in his eyes a second before he had turned and defied Voldemort. Voldemort had raised the legendary Elder Wand and was about to utter the very curse that would end Draco's life, but he never had the chance to issue to curse to Draco because just when the last syllables left his tongue and passed through his lips Lucius, who had been standing to his right, had moved to block the curse from hitting his son. The curse had taken his life instead, but everyone present that day had seen Lucius standing proud one last time in his efforts to save his one and only son.

Hermione pulled her mind away from that terrible memory to focus back on the present. Draco was still studying her and for reasons unknown to her it ignited her flickering flame in her belly and since she didn't understand the meaning behind the feelings stirring within her she grew irritated as she glowered at the Slytherin boy.

"Like what you see Granger?"

Draco sneered at the girl before him, but his sneer lacked any of its usual coldness. Still he smiled inwardly when Hermione's eyes narrowed and she huffed out a breath of irritation. Even for a Muggle-born she was powerful he knew, brave and smart beyond the knowledge that Hogwarts had to offer her. She had spirit, a fiery resolve for justice and a determination to see things through to the end. He could see her irritation sparking in her eyes as she glared at him and that too was something to say about her. He knew that when she felt something she felt it fully and right now she was highly irritated, perhaps annoyed with the fact that he had remained silent for so long. If nothing else he enjoyed getting a rise out of the Gryffindor Head Girl.

Remaining silent a little longer he studied Hermione, really studied her for the first time since their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gone was the bushy haired girl of youth; gone was the petite body of the girl she used to be. In her place sat a young woman with sleek silky hair curling slightly past her shoulders, the lamplight picking up on fiery highlights that gaze her hair an almost bronze sheen. Where she had been small and petite before now she was taller, resting just beneath his chin he knew, and she had filled out and curved in places that he had best not allo his mind dwell on for too long. Her eyes, although seeming older beyond her eighteen years, still shown with passion for life, their depth radiating warmth and the color reminding him of finely aged brandy.

It was their Seventh Year, a repeat year, at the infamous Hogwarts. The battle with Voldemort was finally over; the physical wounds finally healed, the emotional scars still there, but more bearable now with the passage of time. The Seventh Year class was far larger this year since many of the former students had decided to return to Hogwarts and better the remedial education they had received the year before. Changes had occurred after the final battle with Voldemort, changes that no one would have ever thought possible. It was as if the ending of the threat with the Dark Lord had brought about a change of heart in those of Slytherin House. After so many years of priding themselves on being pure of blood and lineage and looking down upon those of Muggle-born descent and those they considered blood traitors they had begun to emerge from the shadows of their prejudice and forming friendships with those of the other three Houses of Hogwarts.

At first the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and the famed Gryffindors had been wary of the Slytherins, had at first refused to believe they were sincere in their attempts to bridge the yawning gap that had formed between them, but in time, as they had slowly and painfully helped to rebuild Hogwarts in the first months after the war, they had allowed the students of Slytherin House to integrate with them and at long last, after centuries of fighting friendships had formed and so had relationships.

Draco smiled a small smile as he thought of two of his friends, two people that had hated the Gryffindors as much as he had, who had formed relationships with the loyal and courageous students of Godric Gryffindor's founding House. Blaise Zabini, a quiet and rather aloof Slytherin, who had been more than satisfied with remaining on the outside fringe of gatherings was now happily in love with the daughter of a once thought of blood traitor. Ginny Weasley had brought a light into Blaise's life, lightened the darkness that he surrounded himself in, and she didn't seem to hold it against him that he had originally shunned her because of her who her parents were. She didn't seem to mind letting the past remain buried beneath the rubble that had been Hogwarts after the war. They were quiet happy together and although Draco found himself rather jealous of the two he was happy for his friend, everyone needed someone to light their way through the darkness of their lives and for Blaise he found that guidance in Ginny.

Now the other pairing that he had found unlikely was one that many of the other students had been more than shocked to see. Pansy Parkinson, famed Muggle-born hater and all around snob had come out of her shell to emerge as a rather shy and decent girl. Draco had always known that she was nothing like the image she projected; he was one of the few that knew her for who she really was. At first she had been terrified, too ashamed with her actions and with herself, to approach any of those from the other Hogwarts Houses. It was during the last months of the restoration of Hogwarts that the infamous Boy Who Lived approached her.

Harry Potter had saved the wizarding world from the dark and evil clutches of Lord Voldemort. He had put every single student and teacher's life before his own and set out to do what he had always known he was born to do, prophesied to do after the Dark Lord had taken the life of his parents. He never once backed down, never once let his fear allow him to run and hide from his fate, no he had stood tall and brave, proud in the face of death and defeated the darkest wizard the wizarding world had ever known. He had become a savior, a hero, to all of the people gathered, to everyone who had ever been effected by Voldemort; his name was one that all would remember for centuries to come.

Draco remembered watching Harry approach Pansy as she had tried in vain to move a large chunk of rubble near where the Slytherin common room could be found. He had noticed the green and silver banner depicting their house beneath the large stone chunk of mortar and Pansy, ever the Slytherin, was trying desperately to salvage it from the wreckage. He had watched while Harry bent down and tugged at the banner before standing and uttering a spell to lift the mortar from it. After magically moving the mortar to an ever growing pile he had picked up the banner and folded it before handing it off to Pansy. At first she had stiffened refusing to touch the banner that Harry held out to her, but after several moments of silence she had reached out timidly and taken the material in his hands. Draco had been able to see the tears in her eyes from where he stood and while he watched Harry gently brushed the pad of his thumb beneath her eyes to stop the flow of moisture before it left dirty tracks on her filth smudged face. It was the moment that Pansy threw her arms around the Boy Who Lived and thus forming a friendship with her former enemy. It was a friendship that had escalated into the blooming relationship that it was now.

Those relationships weren't the only one that had emerged from the centuries old rivals. Many more had formed bringing all the Hogwarts Houses close together as they had always been meant to be. Draco didn't mind it so much, but he felt a sense of loneliness now when he was with his friends and their partners. He was on the outside of the gatherings looking in, trying to find his place, but there was no place for someone like him. No he knew he was meant to remain alone. No one really trusted him after his brief stint as a Death Eater. They knew that Dark Mark still remain etched into the skin of his forearm where it would forever remain.

Hermione watched as Draco rubbed at the place where she knew the Dark Mark lay. There was a sad wistfulness in his eyes as he lost himself in whatever musings plagued him. He seemed so lost in the moment that Hermione couldn't stifle her urge to reach out to him. He didn't flinch when she laid her hand gently on his knee nor did he react when she moved from her place to move to his side.

He knew that she was beside him, knew that in her own way she was trying to comfort him and he knew that she felt the same way, always being on the outskirts of her group of friends as they formed relationships and she was left behind alone. Draco knew that he should move away, make her resume her seat across from him, but he reveled in her comfort a moment before finally speaking. "I do not need your comfort Granger. I do not anything at all from you."

Hermione snatched her hand back as she moved back to her own seat huffing with indignation. Her temper flared for a moment in rolling flames before the look in his eyes banked it down to smoldering embers. He still looked so lost, so alone. His voice had lacked its usual high and mighty coldness that was normal for Draco. Instead it had been soft, full of the same emotions she saw in his eyes. Huffing again she figured if he wanted to act like that then so be it. She refused to let him see that his words, although she knew he didn't really mean them, had hurt her when all she had wanted to do was bring him some measure of comfort, to let him know that he deemed her worthy enough for a Malfoy that she would be his friend.

She wanted to be mad at him, she really did, but when she gazed into his eyes hers glower softened. "Whatever you say Malfoy, it's not like I really care."

He knew she was lying, the truth had been there in her gentle actions, in the softly spoken words when she uttered her little lie, just as she had know he too had lied to her when he had spoken of not needing her for anything, but both of them refused to speak out against the other, instead the fell into silence. They remained in that silence, comfortable, companionable, as the train slowed to a stop. They stood together and after one last look at the other they exited the compartment and went their separate ways.

oOo

Hermione reveled in the silence of library as she pulled books from the shelves and carried them over to a table in the back of the room. The night had been long so far and after performing her Head Girl duties and patrolling the corridors she was ready to sit down and study. Settling into a chair she opened one of the many books she had grabbed and pulled parchment and a quill and ink from her bag. Flattening out the parchment she dipped her quill in her ink pot and after reading a few lines she began writing her report.

Draco watched her in silence unable to break her concentration as she poured over the dusty tomes and scratched away with her quill. She had been so absorbed in her homework that she hadn't heard him enter the library nor had she heard him approach her and sit across from her at the table she had chosen near the crackling fire. As quietly as he could he pulled his own study material out and set about following her example, however the more he tried to concentrate the more he found himself glancing up from his homework to gaze at the girl across from him.

He couldn't understand how it was that she could become as lost in something as boring and mundane as homework. He, himself, could never sit still long enough to finish a single assignment and because of that he had two different reports and one set of rune translations that he had due the next day and hadn't even begun to write them. Sighing he forced his eyes back to the book he was reading. Draco pulled his copy of _Ancient__Runes__Made__Easy_ towards him and tried to translate the runes that looked like nothing more than little squiggles on his parchment.

The scratching of another's quill finally drew Hermione's attention away from her homework. Finishing the last sentence on her last report she rolled up the parchment and set it aside. Looking up from her task she finally notice that she had company at her table and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. His head was bent towards his work causing his hair to fall around his face curtaining him from her view. She had to admit that she thought he looked better with his hair longer than he normally wore it. She rather liked the way that now dusted his shoulders and like his late father he kept it tied back most of the time, but right now it was free from its normal bindings and falling around his face and Hermione had to resist the urge to reach out and run her fingers through it to see if it really felt as much like silk as it looked.

Needing something to distract her from staring at Draco she turned her eyes down to see what he was working on. Shaking at head at his mistranslated runes she pulled out her copy of _Advanced__Rune__Translation_ and flipped through the pages until she found the one that had most of the runes he was translating. "Here try this." Draco looked up from his translations and studied the book she held out to him, when he didn't make a move to reach out to take it Hermione sat down in front of him and pushed towards him. "I thought it might help you with your translations since you've gotten almost everyone of them wrong. I've already taken the class so if you need the book for a little while then go ahead and take it with you."

He turned his eyes away from the tome to settle his stormy grey eyes on her. "You've already taken the class and yet you still carry around the book?"

It was a simple question and it wasn't like he was making fun of her…at least it didn't seem like he was, but still she felt her face heat with color. She turned her eyes away from his and sighed. "It's one of my favorite things to read. There's still many things in there I have translated yet."

"Why do you read something like that? Granger have you not figured out yet that runes are horribly boring and useless in the grand scheme of things?"

Hermione turned her gaze back to Draco and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe to you they're boring, but I find runes to be quite fascinating." She was quiet a moment before she continued. "Plus I like to read the book at night when I can't sleep."

Draco heard the slight tremble in her voice when she admitted the second part. "Nightmares?"

She sighed and nodded. "I know I'm probably not the only one who has them, but I find it easier to fall back to sleep after I've filled my head with rune translations. For some reason they chase away the nightmares."

Draco understood about the nightmares, he wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he had them more often than not, always forced to relive the moment he lost his father or forced to suffer through the memories of what he had to go through under the Dark Lord's power. He didn't find it at all odd that she would have nightmares from that terrible time, not when she had stood by Harry's side for the entire thing. She and Ron had seen far more than most everyone else had seen.

Hermione hated admitting such a weakness and hated it even more that she had allowed herself to tell Draco of all people. Harry and Ron didn't even know the terrible images that still plagued her darkest nightmares. She had never told them not wanting them to worry about her when they had found happiness after the war. No she had kept her nightmares to herself or she had until she had told Draco.

She waited for his snide insults to begin, but he remained silent as he studied her. Finally he nodded his head and pushed the book back to her. "Why don't you just help me translate these and then you can take your book back with you."

She stifled the urge to gasp out loud. Draco hadn't insulted as she had thought he would do. She had almost expected it from him, but maybe he, like many of the other Slytherins, had truly changed for the better. Not knowing what to say she simply nodded and stood and grabbed her back before she made her way around to the other side of the table. Settling in beside him she set her bag on the table and pulled out a new roll of parchment and handed it to Draco while she pulled her copy of _Advanced__Rune__Translation_ towards her and opened it to the page she knew the ones he needed were located before moving it to lay open between them.

They worked together through his translations and then Hermione offered to help him with the rest of his homework. Draco pulled out the parchment for both of his essays handing her the one that he was looking forward to the least.

Hermione read it over and scowled at the parchment as if it offended her. "You have to write an essay on Horcruxes? I'm guessing you decided to take Defense Against the Dark Arts this year with that new professor."

He heard the disdain in Hermione's voice when she mentioned Horcruxes. It was like the very mention of the dark magic offended her in ways he couldn't understand. "Do you know anything about Horcruxes?"

She scowled at the parchment a moment longer before she heaved a deep sigh. "Yeah I know plenty about them. You aren't going to find anything in any book here in the library, not even in the Restricted Section. Horcruxes are made with some of the darkest of magic and…it was something that Lord Voldemort succeeded in doing. A Horcrux is the receptacle in which a Dark wizard has hidden a fragment of his soul for the purposes of attaining immortality. Lord Voldemort made seven of them, splitting his soul in smaller fragments each time in the hopes that if his physical body was destroyed he could come back again as long as a part of his soul was still floating around somewhere. Harry destroyed all seven, even the one he had unwilling made when he tried to kill Harry when he was baby. When that curse rebounded it sealed away a piece of Voldemort's soul in Harry. Harry had to risk killing himself in order to rid the world of the last traces of the Dark Lord before he could fully kill his physical being."

"Do you suppose that Professor Banesly knows that?"

Hermione snorted. "I highly doubt it. Dumbledore and Harry kept Horcruxes and secret. Snape was the only other person who knew and he's gone now. I very seriously doubt the Dark Lord confided in any of his Death Eater's over something this valuable to him."

He shook his head knowing Hermione was right. "He didn't tell us anything about Horcruxes. He just made sure we protected certain…those were the Horcruxes weren't they?"

She nodded. "Right. He chose items of importance to make his little tools. Tom Riddle's diary, the book your father slipped into Ginny's cauldron back in or Second Year, was one of them. There was also Ravenclaw's diadem, a ring that belonged to his anvestor Marvolo Gaunt, Hugglepuff's cup, a locket that was once Salazar Slytherin's, Voldemort's precious little snake and then of course Harry Potter, but he was unaware that Harry was one of his Horcruxes."

Draco sat there in silence while he absorbed that little bit of information. "I can't very well write all of that down in an essay. Not when anyone else's, other than you and Potter and I assume Weasley as well, know about all of that."

"It wouldn't seem that you can no. I think what your Professor is wanting is to see how far any of you are willing to delve into the well of dark magic. I'm sure he wants you to write the simple and basic truth."

"Which is?"

"'Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction.' That's all that's written in _Magick__Moste__Evile_. That's all that I know is written anywhere."

Draco groaned while he ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. "I'm going to fail this essay."

"Write down what I just told you. It's the truth and the only thing you can find here in the library. Now what's your other essay about?"

Draco handed it to her and after reading it Hermione laughed. Draco cast her a dark glower. "And what Granger do you find so funny about that?"

"I just find it funny that you have to write a report on Hippogriffs. It seems Buckbeak found a way to come back and haunt you over your little misadventure in Care of Magical Creature back in our Third Year. Hold on a second. I know what books you can use."

Draco watched as she stood and strolled over to the bookcases and in a few moments returned with two books that she sat down in front of him. He read the titles: _Handbook__of__Hippogriff__Psychology_and _Fowl__or__Foul?__A__Study__of__Hippogriff__Brutality_. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't turn to face the giggling Gryffindor instead opting to open one of tomes before him. "I don't find this funny at all."

"I do. You should know that karma always has a way of coming back to get you."

"You have a warped sense of humor Granger."

"Lighten up Malfoy. It could be worse. Buckbeak could have very easily have killed you that day."

Draco finally turned his glower on her then. "That bloody bird maimed me."

"Right Malfoy, if you want to call gashing your arm maiming you. Just work on your essay. I'll go over your rune translations one more time to make sure we didn't miss anything."

Mumbling under his breath about bloody chickens and humorless Gryffindors Malfoy set to task to finish the essay. Silence fell over then except the scratching of quills as he wrote the damnable essay and Hermione read through and fixed his still horribly translated runes. When the clock struck the midnight hour they gathered their things and went to their respected dormitories. All the while, unbeknownst to the other, they thought of each other and the changes that had occurred within them over the last year and wondered still what changes were yet to come.

oOo

If any of the other students noticed the budding, if not still strained, friendship between the Slytherin and the Gryffindor they did not voice it. Neither Hermione nor Draco heard a single whisper about being seen together and neither really cared. For once they were both feeling less lonely than they had ever been and they found a semblance of happiness in the other's presence.

Hermione attended the Quidditch matches and when Slytherin played against Gryffindor she cheered for both Harry and Draco as the fought one another to gain control over the flighty little golden snitch as it whizzed by them taunting them to catch it. When Gryffindor one she hurried across the field to lightly hug Draco and tell him he played a good game. Even showing affection towards the other did not raise rumors or concern and for that both were happy. It seemed as if no one really cared that they were from once rival Houses, only seeing two people slowly fighting their way towards something more than just friendship, even if the people in question refused to admit it.

The seasons changed and when Hogsmeade became open to the students they ventured down to the tiny wizarding town and sat together at Madam Rosemerta's and talked over Butterbeers. They strolled through the little shops together and went to see the Shrieking Shack where Hermione laughed, much to Draco's dismay, at the memory of him running off scared when Harry had pulled his little prank on him and his friends a few years before.

As Autumn turned into Winter Hermione had offered to stay with Draco at Hogwarts over the Christmas holiday, but he had told her to go spend time with her family. It was the look of impending loneliness that had prompted her to send and owl to her parents and okay it with them to bring him along. When the owl returned with their consent she rushed off to find Draco.

She found him in the Great Hall enjoying many of the Christmas treats the Hogwarts house elves had worked hard to prepare for the students. She tamped down on her disgust over the extra work the poor creatures were having to put forth as she neared where Draco sat talking to Blaise. He turned away from Blaise as she sat down beside him. Hermione smiled at Blaise as he stood up to hurry off in search of Ginny. Hermione handed Draco the letter.

Draco read over the letter and gazed up from it to Hermione. "What's this?"

"I asked my mum and dad if you could spend the holidays with us and they said it was fine with them. They've only met Harry and Ron once in Diagon Alley years ago and I've never brought anyone else home to meet them so they're excited about meeting you. Say you'll come with me."

Draco was silent as he reread the letter. Hermione felt a trickle of dread slide down her spine as she prepared herself for his rejection. She had hoped that after everything that had happened with Voldemort and the fact that the racial prejudice towards Muggles and Muggle-borns had become a thing of the past that he would be thrilled to spend the holiday with her instead of spending it here at Hogwarts, alone, since his mother had remained ill and depressed since his father's passing and had decided that it was best for him to remain at the school for Christmas.

Finally he set the letter aside and nodded. "I have nothing else better to do."

Hermione knew that was his way of agreeing and although it wasn't exactly the 'yes' she had been looking for it was still an affirmative nonetheless. "I'll just go and send an owl to mum and dad and tell them to expect the both of us."

With that she raced off and Draco watched her as she rushed from Great Hall. Shaking his head he smiled happy to know that he wouldn't be left alone to wander the corridors during the holidays. He knew that both of her parents were Muggles, but like the world around him changing their views towards the non-magical populace, he too found that the purity of blood wasn't as important as he was once taught to believe. Draco found himself looking forward to spending time away from all things that were magical. He found that it was time to just be a normal man doing normal things and not have to worry about spells and jinxes and witches brew.

oOo

Hermione smiled to herself as she rewrapped the scarf that Draco had given her for Christmas around her neck. While he had given her one made with Slytherin colors she in turn had given him one made in the colors of Gryffindor House. They had strolled back into Hogwarts together, after the holidays, wearing the scarves of their rival Houses. Students and teachers passed them smiling and nodding as they separated to head towards their own Houses and unpack before they met back up to take a walk out in the snow.

She opened her trunk to rummage around for her thicker cloak when something caught her eye. She pulled the tiny little knit hat that had been Dobby's favorite. He had kept it with him and when he had been killed Hermione had found it in the few possessions the little house elf had owned. Stifling a sob she slammed the lid closed and hurried from her dormitory not stopping until she had exited the school. When she final ground to a halt she found herself on her knees beside the lake. Hermione let the sobs she had held in take control as tears streamed down her face.

She had no idea how long she had kneeled there crying, but as her tears dried and her sobs turned to sniffles she felt something warm drape across her shoulders. Peering over her shoulder she watched as Draco kneeled down beside her. She wrapped the cloak he had given her tighter around her trying to chase off the chill she just now began to feel. "Do you want to tell me what you were upset about? Weasley's sister said she saw you running out here upset."

Hermione drew in a deep calming breath before she handed Draco the little hat. "It was Dobby's."

"The house elf that once served my family."

It wasn't a question because Hermione knew that he remembered the house elf. "Yes. He died when he took the dagger that Bellatrix had thrown in hopes that she would kill Harry. He's buried out on the beach near Bill and Fleur Weasley's place. Harry made sure he got a proper burial. It's just that…" Hermione felt the fresh swell of tears as they created over her bottom eye lid and fell past her lashes. "…he always found a way to help us out. He was brave and he stood up against those who would harm someone he cared about even though he was only a little house elf."

Draco remembered the battle at Malfoy Manor when the house elf had come and helped the others escape. He remembered hearing his aunt's cruel crazy cackle as she threw the dagger at Potter and remembered hearing the sickening thud as it connected with a body, the tearing sound as it tore the flesh and the metallic smell of blood as it trickled from the wound. He had not known that it was the house elf who had taken the blow and seeing Hermione's tears it made him feel a small amount of remorse for the poor creature. Not knowing how to comfort her he simply wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly too him as she cried for the lost life of the house elf named Dobby.

Hermione buried her face into the crook of his neck and inhaled the scent of cinnamon spice and something that was purely male that she had come to associate with Draco. His scent and the warmth of his body surrounding hers brought her comfort and she felt her tears slow and then fade, but still she did not pull away. She didn't want to leave the security of his arms and as long as he allowed her to be there she would stay.

After awhile Hermione turned so that she could stare out at the vast lake, but she remained in the embrace of Draco's arms and he didn't seem inclined to move from the position they were in. Hermione didn't know how long they had remained sitting like that when she felt Draco shift so that he legs cradle her sides. He drew in a deep breath and Hermione tilted her head to the side to gaze up at him. She gasped softly when she found his eyes on hers and as she stared into the liquid mercury of his eyes she became lost in depths that held warmth now instead of the iciness she had always known.

Draco gazed at the wonder of the beauty that was Hermione. It was something he had never allowed himself to see before, not when she was a Gryffindor and he a Slytherin, but now that didn't matter, hadn't mattered in a long time. He had enjoyed having her by his side these last several months, had enjoyed her friendship. He had felt happy when he heard her laughter, had smiled at her quick and witty comebacks when they bantered back and forth over useless things, and for once he felt like he had someone in the loneliness that had shrouded him for so long. In her presence he felt the veil of past memories lift to allow a cloak of new memories to form and remembered each and every one of them.

Looking down at her now he saw a new beginning awaiting him, a new life that he wanted to be a part of. He smiled then, his first genuine smile, and was happy that Hermione was the one to witness the phenomenon. When she smiled in return he knew right then what he wanted to do, what he had been craving to do for awhile now, and not waiting another minute he leaned down and touched her lips with his own.

Hermione felt her heart flutter; lose its rhythm for a moment, at the first timid touch of his lips. She shifted so that she could wrap her arms around the strong column of his neck as his lips touched hers time and again. She wanted more of him and as if he understood her want he traced her bottom lip with his tongue and she opened herself to him. His tongue danced with hers, tangled in restrained longing, battling against hers as they both tried to draw the very breath from the other.

Draco felt like an eternity had passed before he finally drew away from her and rested his forehead against hers as they struggled to catch their breath. Draco could feel her rapidly pulsing heart beating a tattoo in sync with his as she tightened his arms around him and pulled her tighter against him. Nothing else mattered to him in that moment except the beautiful Gryffindor girl. She had given to him the very things he had sought after since the death of his father and the defeat of the Dark Lord.

Hermione smiled as she snuggled as close as she could to Draco. They were an odd couple she knew; the unlikely Slytherin boy and the unlikely Gryffindor girl making a completely unlikely friendship turn into a very likely relationship. She didn't care how unlikely it seemed, all that really mattered was that from here on out, in the moments that followed after this one, that anything was more than likely to happen and she wouldn't have it any other way.

oOo

_Alright here's the end of the challenge for Belief Among Unrest. To all the readers out there thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you in advance to all those to review._


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